people

After about 20 minutes of looking, I saw a girl who looked not French, not necessarily American, but thoroughly hipster. I figured that must be her, and I was correct. So I got to carry the bags I had through the Métro and a bunch of streets to get to a sort of introductory brunch with the other students.

Maybe I’ve been in Ithaca too long and/or learned to overlook this in people I know but…do most 19-24 year olds dress/act/look like wannabe high schoolers? With two exceptions out of the 25 or so people I saw (and one, the girl I met earlier, is just a small exception), every one of them would fit in perfectly if dropped into certain crowds in my old high school. The poor makeup blending, fried hair and identical heavy side-bangs on the girls took me right back. It is really that hard to figure out if one’s foundation is at least 4 shades darker than one’s actual skin tone? As a very pale person, I feel the pain of this situation…but some of these girls regularly look like they want to wear blackface but are not quite sure if they’re allowed to do so.

The one stand-out (not necessarily in a good way, either) was a really tall guy who is dating the hipster girl, and is obviously an accomplished hipster himself: greasy shoulder-length hair, ridiculously skinny, girl belts and hoodies all the time. He goes to (surprise!) NYU.

If I was slightly surprised by the general appearance of the crowd, I was stunned by its ability to form solid cliques in the 18 hours or so it had been together. I looked around and could see distinct groups; you can imagine what they were, as they seem to be pretty much the same as any high school. I am compelled to comment on one girl specifically, though, simply because her commitment astonishes me: every I’ve seen her she’s worn false eyelashes so ridiculously long and thick that they seem to obscure her vision and make her look like some sort of Snow White woodland creature in poor disguise. I imagine her eyelids get tired after a day of wearing them. She’s quite nice, though.

We went around the room and discussed everyone’s reason for coming to Paris. Some of the most common answers: “I took French for so long I thought I’d see if I could actually use it,” “My boyfriend and I wanted to go abroad together and one (or both) of us took French in high school, so it was logical,” “The food.” A few people said the art brought them to Paris; these were ones who already seemed more interesting, anyway.

The students in the program come from all over the U.S. In one way I like to see all the different reactions to Paris (most people have never been here before, and some have never been to Europe at all) that are informed by what people are used to, but in another way it’s annoying because some tend to stick with their geographical groups, and many constantly try to show how cool their area is. There are these two girls who go to Berkeley and they often go on about how awesome the town and campus are, whereas the girl from Alabama always complains about how astonishingly rude the French (and many of the other students) are. She’s amazed, for example, that no one ever smiles at her in the street or the Metro. I’m waiting for her to go to clubs and smile like an idiot at everyone who makes eye contact with her…then see how many crazies follow her home. Oh, then there’s the one from Georgia who is excited she’s going to meet Catholic people! Because there aren’t any in the U.S.!

I realize this makes it sound like all the people in the program are dumb and irritating; most of them really are not. They are generally very nice, open-minded, and friendly. Many have quirks that are already visible and I can see how they will eventually get irritating when I’m around them so much. (I’m pretty sure the group feels the same way about me, as they all find it very weird that I can spout off historical facts about any given place we visit, or the area it’s in.) And of course a few are just plain annoying: two girls from Southern California have been friends since grade school and pretty much refuse to be parted, while another girl talks through every presentation we have.